Mourners sat on mud floors at a village in India where two teen girls were gang-raped and then found hanging from a mango tree . They wailed and talked of fears of more attacks .

The assault on the cousins , ages 14 and 16 , sparked outrage in the community in Uttar Pradesh state .

Villagers streamed into the homes of the girls ' relatives , weeping behind their customary veils . The mother of one of the girls said her daughter wanted to become a doctor to escape grinding poverty .

The attackers , she said , deserved the same fate that befell her daughter .

`` Hang them in public , '' she said .

CNN can not identify the relatives or victims under Indian law .

In the northern village where the attack occurred , crowds surrounded the girls for hours after their bodies were found Wednesday . They accused authorities of siding with the suspects and blocked them from taking the girls down from their nooses unless arrests are made .

Authorities arrested five men -- three brothers and two police officers -- who are facing rape and murder charges , said R.K.S. Rathore , a senior police officer .

In addition , the officers face charges of conspiracy in the crime and negligence of duty after villagers accused them of failing to respond when they first pinpointed the suspects .

An autopsy confirmed that the girls had been raped and strangled , according to authorities . They were cremated the same day the bodies were found , in line with Hindu customs , said Mukesh Saxena , a local police official .

`` We are scared , '' said Renu Devi , a woman in the village where the attack occurred .

`` If this could happen to them , it could happen to us also . ''

Police under scrutiny

Devi has reason to fear . The girls were out in the orchard relieving themselves Tuesday night when the attackers grabbed them , authorities said .

Toilets are rare in the village , forcing women to wander away into fields in the dead of night .

`` There 's no toilet . Where can the girls go ? '' shouted Jamuni Devi , another woman from the village . `` No one has done anything for sanitation . ''

Indians have more access to mobile phones than to toilets , according to a United Nations report four years ago .

`` India has some 545 million cell phones , enough to serve about 45 % of the population , '' according to the U.N. .

But it also has the highest number of people in the world -- an estimated 620 million -- who defecate in the open , according to UNICEF .

The lack of indoor plumbing leaves women in rural areas vulnerable to frequent rapes and beatings .

`` It is a tragic irony to think that in India , a country now wealthy enough that roughly half of the people own phones , about half can not afford the basic necessity and dignity of a toilet , '' said Zafar Adeel , who chairs the organization U.N.-Water .

Unable to stop

Some people saw the abduction but were unable to stop it , police spokesman Saxena said , citing witnesses .

His account echoed that of the father of the older victim , who alleged that a scuffle broke out between a relative and the three brothers suspected of the attack .

`` They scared my cousin away with a locally made pistol , '' he said .

The daughter he lost was his only child .

The victims ' relatives accused local police of failing to respond and siding with the suspects when the parents reported the case . The allegations have fueled anger among the villagers .

`` If police wanted , my daughter would have been alive today , '' he said .

` Endemic ' violence

This Uttar Pradesh rape is the latest of several that have drawn the world 's attention to India in recent years .

The horrific gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman in New Delhi in late 2012 shook India , sparking campaigns against violent crimes against women in the country , the world 's second most populous after China .

The case prompted protests in many cities , soul-searching in the media and changes to the law . But shocking instances of sexual violence continue to come to light .

`` Laws can only do so much when you have to end something which is as endemic and as entrenched as violence against women , '' said Divya Iyer , a senior researcher for Amnesty International in Bangalore , India .

The country 's new Prime Minister , Narendra Modi , has said he wants to take steps to ensure that women are safe , particularly in rural India . But women 's rights groups have criticized what they say is a lack of specific proposals to tackle the problem , suggesting that gender inequality does n't appear to be high on his list of priorities .

@highlight

The shocking attack on the cousins ages 14 and 16 sparks outrage worldwide

@highlight

Two police officers and three brothers are arrested

@highlight

A total of five men are in custody so far

@highlight

`` We are scared , '' says Renu Devi , a woman in the village